


Pretty Little Duckling

by rabbit_in_a_lizard_mask



Series: Creepy stuff [3]
Category: Mangled (music video)
Genre: Drowning, Electrocution, Gen, I call him Nyx but it's Natemare, Knives, feedback on that would be appreciated, general torture man this ain't good, hi ducky here it is, this is PURELY for a friend, unsure if it falls under graphic descriptions of violence or not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:20:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26853601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rabbit_in_a_lizard_mask/pseuds/rabbit_in_a_lizard_mask
Summary: "Red or blue?""What the fuck?"He rolls his eyes."You heard me. Red. Or. Blue.""Purple,bitch!"She starts struggling against the cuffs. He raises an eyebrow."Both it is, then."
Series: Creepy stuff [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1393597
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	1. Hold still and let me hurt you, darling

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheSuperDucklin24](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSuperDucklin24/gifts).



> the other character goes by the names Ducky and Natalie and uses she/her and they/them pronouns since that's my friend's name and pronouns and I may or may not have written this entirely to fluster them :P

His first clue that she's woken up is the hissed "I can't believe I've been kidnapped by fucking  _ Natemare _ ."

"It's Nyx, actually," he tosses back over his shoulder.

"Nick?"

"Because I've  _ never _ heard  _ that _ one before."

"Fair enough. It makes more sense than assuming you were named after the goddess of the night, though."

_ Oh, _ that's funny.  _ This _ one knows what they're talking about.

"Who said I was named  _ after?" _

She shrugs.

"Y’know, I’d dispute that, but since you look like you came  _ straight _ out of the music video I was watching, I don’t really know  _ what _ to think."

"Don't, then. Not like I'm going to do things that differently."

"Huh? ...Oh. Shit."

He laughs, and crouches down by the 'toybox.'

"Red or blue?"

"What the fuck?"

He rolls his eyes.

"You heard me. Red. Or. Blue."

"Purple,  _ bitch!" _

She starts struggling against the cuffs. He raises an eyebrow.

"Both it is, then."

Nyx picks up the blue lighter and the red tacks, scattering a handful on the ground by their bare feet and clicking the lighter in his free hand out of habit. 

"Try not to move too much, hm? You might step on a tack…"

"Oh, and you'd be  _ so sad _ about that, wouldn't you?"

He snickers.

"Wow, bitch much? Do you have any fucking  _ hobbies _ asides from kidnapping and murdering people?"

He shrugs.

"Don't need em."

She stiffens, eyes widening.

“Don’t ask questions if you don’t want the answers, duckling…”

They kick at him. He catches her leg.

_ "Not _ smart, pet."

He clicks the lighter, and burns the sole of her foot.

It doesn't take too much to hold her still, despite their frantic attempts to free themself.

"Stop it! Stop fucking burning me, you sadistic son of a bitch! Get  _ away _ from me!"

"If you say so, duckling."

He steps back, dragging their leg with him and watching the position they have to contort herself into to take some of the strain off their wrists with interest.

“Okay. I see how it is. Get away from me  _ and let go of my foot, _ Nyx.”

“I felt like doing this, though.”

He burns them again.

"Fucking  _ hell, _ you're a sadistic bitch," she mutters, attempting to find a position that's even remotely comfortable.

He laughs, finally releasing their foot.

She immediately steps on a tack trying to keep their balance.

"You gonna try and kick me again?"

"... no."

"Good! Cause if you do I  _ won't _ be that nice."

"You call that  _ nice? _ Your sadism must not have  _ any _ bounds for that to be  _ nice, _ jesus."

He laughs.

"Well, no. Not really. Let me put it this way, I can always get  _ meaner." _

They half-shrug. 

"Fair enough, makes sense if you don’t focus on the part where you being meaner includes you  _ physically injuring me more."  _

"But that's the  _ fun  _ part, duckling..."

He clicks the lighter.

She watches the flame, tilting their head to one side as if hypnotised.

"Y’know, I’ve always thought fire was pretty. I mean, not when it’s searing my skin. But just. Fire. Even wildfires. I’ve always felt kinda guilty about it cause it’s destroying so much, but it’s also  _ really _ pretty."

"I just don't feel guilty about it."

He holds the flame to the hem of their jeans, watching it catch.

_ "FUCK!" _

She yells, kicking frantically at the smouldering embers. Moment broken.

They hiss as her desperate attempts to put the fire out only burn her worse, until they look up at his chuckle.

He catches her frantic kick roughly.

_ "Duckling… _ " he sighs disappointedly, counting to five slowly as he holds the lighter to the ball of their foot, ignoring their yelling in pain.

Once he lets it go, he reaches for the other.

"No! Don't- you've already burned that fucking foot! Don't touch me!"

"I  _ said _ I wouldn't be as nice, duckling," he reminds them, and relights the burn.

"OW! SHIT FUCK JESUS FUCK OW OW STOP THAT FUCKING  _ HURTS! _ CHRIST, SHIT, FUCK  _ OFF!" _

They yank her foot away as soon as he lets go, hissing in pain as they're forced to stand.

_ "Now _ are you gonna behave?"

"Sure! Fine! Whatever!  **_Fuck!"_ **

He laughs, watching her try to find a way of putting less pressure on the burns without stepping on a tack.

She huffs at him.

"Having fun there, duckling?"

"Not in  _ particular, _ no," they reply, dripping with sarcasm.

"How about I make it worse, then?"

He unhooks the chains holding her up, pulling them up a  _ little _ higher.

They squeak and wobble on their tiptoes, falling back against the wall for both balance and an escape from him.

Once he's done making  _ certain _ the chains won't slip, he decides it's time for a smoke break.

"Alright. Bye."

“Dickhead! Bitchard! I am in massive amounts of pain, and then you  _ leave? _ What the fuck is this, Kyle?”

Oh, that’s  _ funny. _

“You think  _ this _ is a massive amount of pain? Oh,  _ duckling...  _ I’m just getting you  _ warmed up… _ ”

She raises an eyebrow at him.

"You're in no way scarier than some of the cursed images I've been sent."

They shudder theatrically.

_ "FREETH… _ "

Nyx lights his cigarette, clicking the lighter idly.

"Leaving you your mouth was a mistake."

"Shut me up then, you sadistic fucker!"

He laughs. "I would, but you'd bite."

"I sure would, you piece of shit! You bet your nonexistent dick I would!"

Nyx takes three quick steps closer and backhands her, hard.

They were asking for it, and besides, there's nothing quite as satisfying as just  _ hitting _ someone.

"Ow."

"Kept your mouth shut it wouldn't have happened."

"No, if you hadn't  _ hit _ me it wouldn't have happened!"

He considers for a second, takes a drag, and hits her again.

"That works too."

Their lip is split, blood trickling down their chin.

He blows smoke at her face, laughing at the face they pull.

"You get all chatty as soon as I'm gone, but when I'm here you  _ shut up. _ Why's that, duckling?"

She doesn't respond, staring at the ground.

Heh.

He wasn't expecting one.

Nyx taps the red mark on her cheek with the back of his hand, and leaves.

He hums to himself as he walks under the stars, undecided as to which toy he should use next.

He doesn’t need to keep too much of an eye on Duck, that predicament hasn’t put her in any actual  _ danger, _ so he takes his time before heading back.

The stars are beautiful tonight. The Seven Sisters are drifting on the horizon, and Andromeda looks down at him disapprovingly.

Honestly. You'd think she'd  _ appreciate _ a sacrifice every once in a while.

Ah, well. More pain - and fear - for him.

As he opens the door again, he breathes in the last bit of smoke, letting the warmth settle in his lungs before blowing it out in a hazy swirl.

_ "Fuck, _ why are you so  _ pretty?" _ They mutter to themself.

_ Oho. _

"I could say the same for you, pet." Nyx tosses back, watching their reaction closely.

He can  _ see _ the moment his words register and Nat's brain stops functioning. She presses herself further into the wall and shakes her head  _ violently, _ hiding their face behind a curtain of dark brown hair. He walks over and tucks their hair behind her ears.

"No, no, no. None of that. Don't you hide your pretty face from me, duckling."

Nyx can  _ actually feel _ the warmth of her blush. This is  _ incredibly _ fun.

He crowds her a little more, and they _ squeak. _ Oh, he  _ has _ to keep  _ this _ one.

He brushes his knuckles against her cheek experimentally, and is rewarded with a shudder as she determinedly looks at the floor. Their face is  _ warm. _

He leans in, making sure to keep his voice low.

"Well, well well.  _ What  _ do we have  _ here? Some _ one's  _ touch _ starved."

"N-no I'm not. There's this thing called 'personal space', ever heard of it?"

Frankly, it'd be a better comeback if they could meet his eyes.

He doesn't move away, ghosting his fingers over her neck and watching the goosebumps follow in their wake. She bites her lip,  _ hard. _

"What's the matter, duckling?" He murmurs, letting his lips brush her ear, because cruelty is almost better kind.

They  _ whimper. _

He takes hold of their face and turns it towards him, huffing a laugh when they fight and refuse to look, and gently kisses their forehead. The noise she makes is worth all the trouble of getting them here and  _ more. _

"Awwww, aren't you just the  _ cutest." _

They keen softly, and he leans away a little. Otherwise they might  _ combust. _

"I…  _ Fuck _ me, why am I  _ like _ this?"

He shrugs.

"Does it matter, duckling? Makes it easier to mess with you."

"That's  _ mean." _

She sticks her tongue out.

He slaps her.

"I'm not  _ nice, _ Natalie."

He pulls gently at their hair, twisting it around his fingers and letting it tangle, watching them pretend they're not leaning into it.

Nyx chuckles softly, abruptly pulling away. The aborted whine they make as he leaves just cements his decision to keep her around.

He leans against the wall, watching their brain reboot. Once they're not _ quite _ so visibly flustered - they can even look in his direction now - he decides it's time to move on.

"...Do you get off on this or something? You really are a sadistic fu-"

He makes eye contact, sorting through the box by feel. Their snappy comment dies midsentence. He raises an eyebrow at her.

"... _ oh." _

He smirks and turns back to the toys, eventually settling on his favourite knife.

Nyx takes his sweet time getting to her, enjoying the way their eyes snap to the knife as soon as she sees it, only glancing to him for a second at most.

"You know, I think knives are my favorite. There's quite a lot you can do with them, like this," -he rests it against her throat- "or  _ this... _ "

He drags it up her arm, watching the blood bead up in its wake.

Natalie whimpers softly. He brushes his knuckles against their cheek.

"Shh, shh, shh. Just let yourself  _ feel _ it, duckling."

They try to pull away from his knife, and he lets her, this time.

He only hears her mumble "Hurts…" because he's standing so close.

"I know, duckling. I'm… What did you call it… A sadistic fuck."

He digs the point in, successfully turning their smile to a gasp of pain.

They flinch away again, so he catches her arm and holds them still. 

She chants "fuck" under her breath as he keeps going, carving a meaningless pattern into their arm and smearing their blood with the flat of the blade.

"Language, pet."

They make eye contact with him.

"Fuck."

His free hand gently wraps around their neck, and he enjoys the momentary fear as he… stops being gentle for a second.

"Don't have much self-preservation, do you?"

He lets her breathe, but leaves his hand around her throat.

"It's the- adhd, no brain to mouth filtER-  _ FUCK!" _ They swear as he digs the knife in again, decorating her other arm with asymmetrical gashes to match in pain if not design.

"To answer your previous question, no. I'm not getting off on this.  _ You _ are, though."

The sharp intake of breath is all the response he really needs, but her attempt to hide their face against the wall is nice, too.

"Shut the  _ fuck _ up." 

He pockets the knife, tucks her hair behind her ear, and leans in, keeping a gentle hand around their throat.

"I don't think you want me to. I think you  _ like _ it when I talk, hm? You  _ like _ it when I get all close like this and talk to you?"

She's breathing heavily, steadfastly looking away from him despite the visible shudder that ran through them.

"Yeah, you  _ really _ like this. Good  _ girl." _

Since they like the knife so much, he rewards her by scraping the point up from her collarbone to  _ just _ under their chin, using it to force them to look at him.

Her eyes flick rapidly between him and the blade.

"Are you going to  _ behave _ now, pet?"

"...ngk."

"Good girl."

He fiddles with the cuffs, making sure to stay pressed up against her for much longer than 'necessary' while unlocking them. They "eep" and try to pull her arm in to scrunch up as much as possible, which has the wonderful side-effect of boxing them in further.

As soon as they’re fully freed he spins them around, huffing a laugh as they step on a tack.

"Ow! Motherfucker!"

_ "Oops… _ "

"You're not sorry at  _ all, _ you sadist!"

"No, I'm not," he agrees, and touches the flat of the blade to her neck.

She jolts a little and goes silent.

He rips the back of their shirt to get access to her shoulderblades, tapping the point of the knife and mapping out where he wants to cut in half-reassurance, half-threat.

He traces gently over their spine, scraping lightly before pressing down  _ hard _ over their shoulderblade.

" _ …ow… _ "

Nyx takes his time, petting their hair gently when they flinch away, holding them still a bit more firmly when they keep squirming away and grinning at the shuddering breath they let out.

He steps back and looks at the bleeding "PET" he's carved into her skin.

“I don’t even really  _ need _ to hold you down for this, do I? You hold still all by  _ yourself  _ for the knife…”

"Y-yeah, cause the knife’s the only thing that you’ve used that can, y'know,  _ kill me?" _

He taps the point on the back of their neck. They spin around, shoulders up by their ears.

"That'd hold more water if you _shut_ _up_ when I choked you, duckling."

"Stop  _ calling _ me that!"

"Hmmm... Nah."

"Look, where did that stupid nickname even  _ come _ from? Were you in my  _ phone _ or something?"

"If you  _ will _ watch  _ my _ video…"

"I like Nate’s music! Sue me! I also thought that, y’know,  _ he was just wearing makeup. _ Seriously, who the fuck thinks that some sadistic, apparently eldritch guy is gonna come out of a music video and kidnap them? Not me,  _ that’s _ for fucking sure!"

She steps on another tack. "Fuck! Those hurt like a  _ bitch!" _

Nyx can't help but laugh. The meek little pet from seconds ago is nowhere to be found.  _ This _ little duckling is  _ furious _ . 

"Matthew wasn't expecting anything to happen  _ either, _ if it's any consolation."

"Wait. What the fuck? You didn’t actually… What am I saying, of  _ course _ you did. Somehow keep forgetting you’re a sadistic little  _ bitch." _

_ That _ crossed a  _ line. _

Nyx grabs their throat, pressing her against the wall and watching them choke while reminding himself to be careful, careful, _careful,_ reminding himself if he gives in fully to the urge to _squeeze_ then he'll crush her throat and 'playtime' will be over.

"Careful, pet."

"Ack- what did you even  _ do  _ to him?"

"Got bored after awhile. Let him go."

Technically.

He'd had Matthew for five nights, to be exact, but who's counting? Not Matthew anymore,  _ that's _ for sure.

"Are you gonna let  _ me _ go?"

He tilts his head to the side pretending to think it over, and has an  _ amazing _ idea.

"I might...  _ If _ you get down on the ground and beg."

"Why the fuck would I need to be on the ground for that?"

He smirks.

"Come on,  _ pet. _ I never said to use  _ words." _

" _ No! _ I'm  _ not _ doing that! Ew ew ew ew ew, I  _ hate _ that,  _ I hate you!" _

She spits at him.

He takes a step back and counts, silently, the ways it'll be more satisfying to hear her screaming than to just snap their neck right now.

Once he's in control again, he looks up slowly.

"That wasn't smart, duckling."

"I don't  _ care, _ I'm  _ not _ begging for you like a fucking _ dog!" _

"You will."

He gives in to the temptation to hit her across the face, and she crumples to the ground. He didn't hit  _ that _ hard, did he?

The flash of half-concern vanishes as they  _ stab him _ with a tack, army roll to the side, and sprint for the door.

"You faked me out, you little  _ bitch!" _

Nyx grabs the taser, and follows. He hasn't had this much fun in  _ ages. _

He doesn’t even need to follow footsteps, she’s yelling insults as they run. Tch. They should really save their breath.

“I’M A BAD BITCH, YOU CAN’T KILL ME!”

Nyx hurls a knife past their head.

“WAIT SHIT YOU  _ CAN  _ KILL ME, THAT’S VERY MUCH A THING THAT YOU CAN DO, FUCK!”

He grins, feral and sharp, and takes a shortcut.

He can hear them approaching, loud footsteps and panting out curses under her breath, and positions himself behind the door so they run  _ smack _ into him.

"You're going the wrong way,  _ duckling." _

He tightens his grip against her startled thrashing, but as soon as he's got her in bridal style she goes still immediately.

"Oh,  _ good _ girl" he croons, and drops a little kiss on her forehead.

She buries her face in his chest and makes another delicious little noise, so he praises her again.

_ "Such _ a good little pet. Why couldn't you be this well-behaved earlier?"

They  _ actually _ curl into him at that. They're  _ so _ easily flustered.

It’s not a long walk to the pool (for him, anyway,) but he pauses near the door, debating turning the lights on.

… Nah. If they see the pool he won't have the moment of shock.

He sits down on the bench, taking her by the chin and forcing her head up.

He waits for a second, letting them have a moment to squirm, and then buckles the leather dog collar around her throat.

It looks good on them.

"...did you just fucking… Collar me?"

"Mm-hm."

Their face? Gone. Buried in his chest.

He offers them a second chance.

"Feelings on begging  _ now, _ Pet?"

She just curls into him further. He tips them onto the floor, and she clamps her mouth shut on a whine. It might have fooled someone paying less attention.

“Come on, duckling. Whatever happened to that  _ mouth _ of yours?"

"...fuck off."

Ah, well. He'd almost have been disappointed if she gave in now.

He seizes them by the throat and stands, holding them up at eye level as her feet kick frantically.

"Do you know how to  _ swim, _ lil duckling?" he hisses.

"W-why the  _ fuck _ do you w-wanna know?"

Their hands scrabble for purchase, clinging to his arm in the vain hope that it'll be slightly easier to breathe if they can support their own weight.

He drops her, and shoves her backward before they can find her footing, catching her by the collar before she falls and  _ yanking _ them to the pool.

They don't talk back, aside from a few curses when they stumble - maybe they've realised he's irritated, and that talking back  _ now _ is incredibly stupid. Once he's got her by the poolside, he pauses. Ghosts his fingers  _ just _ under the collar to see them shiver. Gently takes hold of her shoulders. And  _ shoves. _

Turns out they  _ can _ swim, although with water this cold it's kind of a moot point. The shock generally sends people flailing regardless.

"I should probably turn the lights on, huh? Wouldn't do to have you die on me  _ here." _

They're too busy trying to get their bearings to respond, but he wasn't expecting one. 

Nyx needs to be  _ careful _ with this. It's too easy for them to actually drown, so he errs on the side of caution, dragging her out by the collar often to give her a chance to breathe.

Somehow, mysteriously, he doesn't feel she appreciates it. Heh.

They're coughing a  _ lot, _ so he pulls her over and lets them curl up, hair looking black now that it's wet. It suits her. Of course, it's also falling into her eyes and further disorienting them, but that's a bonus as far as  _ he's _ concerned.

Once she's finally mostly finished her coughing fit, he loops his fingers through the collar (batting away their desperate hands,) dragging them more upright to push them back in, and-

They spew water at his face.

Ew.

He jabs the taser into her while they're still coughing and sputtering,  _ done _ with being _ nice. _

Before they can recover past the scream, he shoves her back in, holding their head under. Next time, he only drags her half out.

Nyx experiments, finding the best places to hurt her while they desperately gasp for air.

He makes a mental note that shocking her at the very base of her ribcage gets a  _ wonderful _ choking scream, and immediately does it again.

After he feels he's  _ thoroughly _ explored his options, he drops her, stuffing the taser back in his pocket. She curls into his feet, desperate for warmth. Aww. It’s almost enough to make him feel bad about kicking her in the ribs.

There's a wet  _ snap, _ and he sighs. Broken rib. He'll need to be careful with that.

She yelps, rolls with the force of the blow, and tries to curl up around themself, shaking.

He crouches down by her head, gently combing through their wet hair.

"C'mon, duckling. It doesn't hurt  _ that _ much."

She just makes sobbing gasps for air. They might be crying, too, but it's hard to tell.

_...Oh, _ that would be  _ cruel. _

He gently probes at her side, murmuring meaningless reassurances and holding them down when they flinch, until he knows exactly where the broken rib is most painful.

And jabs the taser in.

They convulse, _ screaming _ in agony for several seconds before abruptly falling silent. He immediately quits shocking them, batting their hair out of the way to check their pulse.

Just fainted.

Good. He's not quite done 'playing' yet.


	2. Kindness is a weapon, too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nyx pulls her body into his lap as soon as he notices their eyes begin to flutter, and shushes her little whimpers of pain as they wake up further.

He gets her cleaned up, dries her off, and… gets some supplies.

Cold is a danger, and he doesn't _particularly_ want to have to make the call of whether or not to keep them when they get hypothermia, as many… _Opportunities_ … As that would provide. 

He can do that anyway.

So Nyx pulls her body into his lap as soon as he notices their eyes begin to flutter, and shushes her little whimpers of pain as they wake up further.

They grab onto his shirt and curl into a ball almost _before_ they're fully conscious, and that _definitely_ deserves a reward.

"Yeah, _there's_ a good girl. Don't move too much, you're pretty banged up, duckling," He soothes, idly running one hand through still-damp hair.

Her grip tightens, and he catches a tiny whine as she curls up even _tighter_.

He smiles.

"Can you look at me, pet?"

She stays curled up.

"No no no, come on. You can do better than that, duckling."

He hooks his fingers through the ring of the collar, tugging gently.

Eventually they turn their face toward him, but stay staring steadfastly down. A for effort, given how badly he's flustered them.

 _"There's_ that pretty face of yours,"

They let out a little squeak. Awww.

"So, duckling. Ready to beg yet?"

Her voice cracks, and she _cringes,_ but she manages a "Please."

He smiles warmly, tucks her hair out of her face, leans down and says into their ear, 

"Please _what?"_

He can’t tell for sure if the shiver that runs through them is a remnant of the cold earlier or if it’s from his voice, but… He wouldn’t bet on the former.

"Please. Don’t... Don’t hurt me anymore. _Please."_

"There we go! That wasn't that hard, was it?"

".....Can I hide my face now?"

Nyx kisses her forehead, and says "Yes, duckling, I think you've earned it."

They _immediately_ turn her face away and curl back into him. Huh. They're more open about needing comfort than he'd expected.

More to abuse.

He rocks them gently, humming deep in his chest.

"Now, unfortunately, you _weren't_ this well-behaved earlier, so I _do_ actually have to do something that'll hurt a little," he says.

She flinches.

"It's okay, it's okay. Just hold still, can you do that, pet?"

He feels their cautious nod against his chest, and ruffles their hair.

 _"Good_ girl."

He leans over and grabs the antiseptic for their cuts, careful not to dislodge her too much.

They hiss in pain when he rubs it into their arm, but asides from the instinctual flinch she holds still.

"Oh, well _done,_ duckling. You're doing such a good job."

He keeps going, rubbing antiseptic into each little cut, stroking her hair.

Done with their left, he switches to their right, smiling at the little whimper of pain they let out, twisting their hands in his shirt.

"Now it's just your back, and we're done!"

Despite his words, he stands up rather than continuing. There's a couple of mirrors in the other room, and he wants them to _watch_ this.

Once there, he lets them slide down, holding their collar loosely to keep her head up and prevent her from just sinking to the floor.

They make a questioning noise, but don’t speak.

“Go on, pet. Look in the mirrors.”

Their eyes widen, biting her lip, and he grins.

She nervously breaks the silence.

"... Did you carve "pet" into my back?"

He makes eye contact with them in the mirror, and she immediately looks down.

"Yep."

“… _Oh._ ”

He laughs, tugging on the collar ring gently. Just enough to make them hyperaware of it.

"Why, d'ya like it?”

They keep staring steadfastly down, but her cheek is warm when he presses his knuckles against it.

"You _do_. You _like_ being a good little collared pet for me, huh, duckling?"

She covers her face with her hands, worrying at where their lip was split earlier with her teeth.

"You're _so_ cute like this. How about you prove it? Down on the ground."

They resist when he pushes lightly at the back of her head, and that won't do at _all_.

“ **Hey**. Did you want to go _swimming_ again, duckling?"

They frantically shake their head.

"You gonna be _good,_ then?"

She swallows before nodding.

He points.

"Good. **Down**."

Trembling, she sinks to their knees.

“Now, **beg**.”

"Please don’t make me do this like… Like _that_. I’m begging you. Please, please, _please."_

"See, if you'd done _this_ at the _start,_ you wouldn't have to beg _now_. Come on, Pet."

So slowly that it looks physically painful to move, they lift her arms until they look like a dog begging.

He smiles.

She whimpers.

 _"There_ we go. Good _girl,"_ he praises, petting their hair.

They lean into it.

 _Gotcha_.

"Okay, pet. You can stop now. Well done." 

He turns back to the table, grabbing the lighter and clicking it absently.

Their eyes widen, and he ruffles her hair gently. 

“No, no, this one’s for me, duckling,” he soothes them down, showing them the cigarette in his other hand.

“You’ve behaved well enough so far, I don’t feel like it’d do anything except maybe make you cry again.”

She looks down, and he doesn't miss the way their jaw clenches. So she _can_ learn.

"C'mon, duckling. Can you stand up for me?"

She takes his offered hand warily. It's tempting to jerk her around, but he doesn't, just helping them to their feet.

"You wanna walk or does it hurt too much?"

They set their jaw, take a step, and her legs buckle under her.

He laughs, crouching down next to them.

"I'll take that as a solid yes, then."

They squeak as he picks her up, burrowing into him to hide their face.

He hums softly, walking through to the slightly warmer room.

They balk at the dog bed beside the couch, jerking backward in his grip when he moves to put her down.

"Really? You're fine with the torture, but not me putting you in your place?"

She chews her lip again, eyes darting between him and the bed, pride visibly warring with fear.

"Duckling. You can be on the dog bed, or under my feet. Your choice."

"...alright."

He kisses her forehead.

"Good girl."

They stay put on the mat, so he ruffles their hair before collapsing onto the couch.

He checks his phone, still idly playing with her hair.

She leans into it.

Well. They _did_ earn it. He doesn’t need to be harsh right now.

He still leaves them there for a good five minutes, twisting his hand through her hair and testing _just_ how hard he needs to pull before it’s painful, before retracting his hand.

“You still cold, duckling?”

“...yeah. A little.”

“Come up here, then.”

She hesitates, uncertain whether or not he’s being genuine.

He smirks.

“Or you can stay down there. Up to you, really.”

They clamber up awkwardly, squeaking in surprise when he pulls them into his lap.

“Yeah, _there’s_ a good girl.”

She melts into him, sighing when he wraps his arm around her, careful of their rib.

He might do something with that later. That can wait, though. Right now, they’re adorably needy, and who is he to deny them anything?


End file.
